


A Place I'm Welcome

by Off_The_Moon



Series: The Family You Make [1]
Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Developing Friendships, Gen, Mentions of poisoning, One Shot Collection, Redemption, prison incarceration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-12-03 01:10:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11521389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Off_The_Moon/pseuds/Off_The_Moon
Summary: Daniel has been running from the police for a while, but everything he's done seems to have finally caught up with him. The whole world has always felt as if it's out to get him and those who know the truths he does. Is there anyplace left in this world where he is welcome anymore? Apparently so, he just hadn't been looking in any of the right places.





	A Place I'm Welcome

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Initially posted this on ff.net and my Tumblr. But the Camp Camp fandom seems to be wider spread to this sight. So I made an account specifically for this! I do not own Camp Camp or any of its characters. Review are always appreciated. Enjoy!

If hospitals were infernal houses of science and cold logic. Secretly promoting the fallacies of science and dismissing emotional weight- then prisons were the on earth equivalent of negativity energy generators.

The second Daniel had been escorted into the Sleepy Brook police station he had been assaulted with negative energies. They dug into his skin and made his skin itch to the point that his right eye kept twitching and no matter how he stretched his neck it wouldn’t pop and relieve the pressure building up there.

Everyone here was radiating negative energy. The dispatch workers filling out paper work, the officers walking him through a body search, the other criminals cussing and shouting and spitting at life in general.

The anger was perpetuated in on itself in a continuous cycle that was everything his parents had taught him was the stuff of his equivalent hell. Needless to say Daniel had dragged his feet as he was shoved into the single holding cell with ten other men in them. Most of them drunk, and the others sporting bruises and even some blood stains.

Daniel must not have looked too different from them himself. His white shirt was caked from a nose bleed the rat poison had given him, and there was still dirt on his knees from when he had curled up in the dirt and vomited the contents of his stomach because his life depended on it.

His stomach hurt from being pumped at the hospital, the cuffs were cutting into his wrists, and he could taste the lingering of grape flavored vomit in the back of his throat. Daniel just wanted a purification cleansing and a long, hot bath. Instead he was forced to stain his fingers with ink and stand in a crowded cell with these non-believers. Negative energy perpetuating around him and digging into his soul.

It seemed like the longer he stayed on this planet the more non-believers there were. Back when he had been a child believers had been most of everyone he knew. His parents, their friends. The rest of the kids in the congregation…

The older he got the less people seemed to understand the truths of this world. Like the whole world was against him. No one knew about Zeemug and the Confederacy or even the millennial wars. No one cared about negative energies or pleasing the ancient ones so the wars could continue to be fought for peace.

They called him crazy or tried to correct him with their science and logic. As if life was dependent purely by calculations, and emotions didn’t weigh into people’s lives at all.

Daniel didn’t have to look further than the bars of the cell he was leaning against to see that this world was fueled by emotions and not logic. A man was spouting obscenities to a female officer who had given him a black eye on the way in for saying some inappropriate things. One of the drunk men was sobbing an incomprehensible story of how the love of his life had left him years ago had driven him to drink. Some of the men in his cell were squabbling over who would stand where even.

Maybe if they all had been informed correctly on the ways of life- and been taught like Daniel to seek out positive emotions instead if perpetuating negative ones they wouldn’t be in this mess.

Daniel hung his wrists on the chest-high horizontal bars of the prison cell and pressed his forehead onto the cool metal of the vertical ones. Trying to ground himself, and also get rid of the pounding headache he had.

The emergency room had pumped out all of the rat poison from his stomach and system, and given him some kind of charcoal blood treatment before the police arrived- but Daniel couldn’t help but wander if they hadn’t quite gotten it all out of his system.

Either that or he was just dehydrated. Probably both.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” The whole police station as a whole flinched when the door to police station slammed open, and a tall black man in a khaki Ranger Uniform strode in. Clearly this man was someone in charge because everyone baulked at his presence or avoided his angry glare.

He strode up to one of the officer desks and slammed his hand down angrily, “I’ll ask again. Just what the hell went through your pea-for-shit brains. Bringing him in?”

“S-sheriff Sal?” the officers at the desk baulked, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“The counselor you dumb fuck!” the sheriff pointed towards the holding cage.

Daniel realized that they were talking about him and tensed up- the two officers this Sal was talking to were the ones who had brought him in from the hospital.

“The cultist sir? We just picked him up from the hospital sir,” the second officer informed, “he was brought into the emergency room for treatment and the nurses called us…”

“And did you even stop to ask where he had come from?” Sal asked, shifting restlessly. He looked like he wanted to pace around angrily, but the small police station barley left enough room for all of the officer desks, much less proper walking room.

“I don’t understand Sir. He’s clearly the Cultist. He matches the description and had even been exposed to the same kind of rat poison-”

“It doesn’t matter for shit Felix.” Sal said angrily, “I don’t care if he forgot to pay a traffic fine or even killed a dozen kids in the next county over. He shouldn’t be _here_.”

Both of the officers just looked genuinely confused, but Sal's next words made them go pail.

“He’s a Campbell.”

What parts of the room hadn’t already stilled did. The entire police station turning in a slow unison- to stare at **him**. Even the prisoners were looking at him, and though there were a dozen or so odd men in the cramped cage suddenly Daniel had room on all sides of him.

Daniel stared at them in confusion and then nearly jumped out of his skin when he found the tall Sheriff standing directly on the other side of the bars. He was glaring down at him hatefully- as if he would love nothing to choke him to death with his bare hands.

The man didn’t though. The door to the cage was opened. Daniel was grabbed by the arm and removed from the cell, his cuffs were released- he was shoved towards the door. Daniel looked over his shoulder as he was led out, seeing the file report of him being arrested burning in a trash can.

“Get the fuck out of here. This never happened, got that?”

Sal all but threw him out the back door of the police station. Daniel stumbled, clutching his belongings to his chest as the door slammed behind him. He backed away from the brick building, looking up at it in confusion.

“Crazy day, huh?”

Daniel froze at voice coming from behind him, and turned around slowly.

David- a man who looked so much like him it was unnerving and the whole reason for this debacle- was there, leaning against an old green car with his arms crossed.

He did not look happy.

“Get in,” David opened the passenger door with a twist of his arm, and walked around to the other side. He paused before he opened the driver door.

“I said- get in the car Daniel.”

Several things ran through Daniel's mind to say. Asking him why he was here, or what was happening was the first few. His double's heated glare withered all of the words in his throat, and he shuffled into the old vehicle.

David waited until he was sitting and his door was closed before getting into the car himself, buckling his seat belt and slamming the driver door closed with a bit too much force.

“Did they clear you at the ER?” David asked stiffly as he pulled out of the back parking lot of the police station.  

“I think so?” Daniel said quietly, but wasn’t quite sure really. Everything had kind of been a blur by the time he had gotten to the hospital. Everything was still a bit of a blur to be honest. He wished David wouldn’t drive so fast, the moving scenery around them was making him a little car sick.

“Good enough,” David said somewhat quietly, and continued driving. He was clearly angry, and Daniel wasn’t really sure what to say or even do.

The guy had just… busted him out of jail? Even though he had tried to poison the kids at his camp? What did ‘being a Campbell' mean? Why was David even here?

Daniel had way too many questions and not enough brain power to really think them through. He pulled his legs up to his chest and slouched in his seat, resting his aching head against the cool glass window and letting the AC blow across his face as he kept his eye closed.

David drove angrily, not saying anything, and Daniel didn’t really have the energy to speak. He wasn’t sure when he had nodded off, but the next thing he knew David was placing a hand on his shoulder and waking him up.

“Daniel, Daniel.”

“Hmm? Wha?”

“We're stopping to get gas.” It took Daniel a second to recognize David and where he was.

He sat up and rubbed his face, wincing at the blood that was still under his nose.

“Here is a change of clothes, go wash up in the restroom. Are you hungry?”

“Over processed food is full of toxins that aren’t good for you.” Daniel mumbled tiredly

“Well I’m pretty sure they serve simple sandwiches here.” David said gently, “Get something for yourself and some water for both of us. I'll fill up the car.”

David left him to his own devices then with a stack of folded clothes and a twenty beside him. It took Daniel a concerning long time to remember how to untangle his limbs from themselves, and then to get out of the car.

The gas station they were at was more of a truck stop than anything else. The florescent lights hurt his eyes and their buzzing did nothing to help his aching head. The bathroom was absolutely disgusting. Daniel wanted to turn out of it the second he stepped in, but didn’t because there was a tired looking trucker directly behind him and it would have been rude to bump into him like that. He changed and relieved himself in the bathroom stall, careful to touch as little of any surface as he could. He washed his hands and the face in the sink, scrubbing away at the blood and making himself feel a little more alive again.

He looked like he was in a bad way, his eyes were puffy and it looked like he had light bruises up and down his neck. One if the truckers asked if he was okay when they noticed he was cleaning blood off his face, and got another driver’s attention. They concernedly walked him back to where David was filling up the old model car that belonged to the camp.

“No, we already took him to a doctor. Thank you for your concern, friends. He’s had a pretty bad day.” David thanked the men who didn’t leave until they were absolutely sure that Daniel was going to be okay with David.

Awkward silence ensued once they left, Daniel standing in David's borrowed clothes and cradling his own bloodied ones to his chest. David running his hands up and down the sides of his shorts awkwardly before deciding to wrap them around himself.

“I-I didn’t get the food!” Daniel jolted after a second, of thinking. He covered his face with one hand and groaned. “I-I’m sorry.”

“Its fine,” David was genuinely being gentle with his voice, “those gentleman brought you back here after they found you in the restroom. You didn’t have time. We'll just go together once the gas is done pumping.”

So he trusted him enough to get him out of jail, but not enough to leave him alone with the car. Daniel leaned against said car and stared down at his feet. He kind of wanted to sit down there and curl up into a ball. Maybe his head would feel better then.

“I called the hospital while you were out.” David leaned against the car beside him, maybe a foot or so away, arms still hugging his sides. He watched a moth slamming itself against a lightbulb with a neutral expression, “they said they got most of the poison out of you and you should be fine. But they want you to take some vitamin K supplements for the next few weeks. I have a prescription number you can turn in at any major pharmacy- so long as you take them you should be fine.”

David scuffed some of the concrete under his feet with his hiking boot, David continued, “There is a chance you might have a seizure… if you do have one there is nothing to do but take you to the hospital. They said if you haven’t had one by now though, your chances of making a full recovery are pretty good.”

David fell silent after this. The moth the red haired man was watching stopped slamming into the light, fluttering unevenly down to the ground, one of its wings crumpled badly.

After a few seconds the gas pump beside them clicked, indicating that the car was full. Daniel finally found his voice as the other reset the pump.

“Why are you helping me?” Daniel asked quietly, his voice barely a whisper, “after everything that happened- after learning who I am… what I’ve done…”

“Do you regret what you've done?” David asked, looking up from the gas pump.

“No,” Daniel answered perhaps a bit too honestly. He tightened his hold on the white clothes pressed to his chest, “most people just… they don’t see the bigger picture.”

“And what is that bigger picture?” David asked as he screwed back in the gas cap to the car. _Why do you kill kids?_ David didn’t need to say it but the question was implied.

“They’re sacrifices. To the Ancient ones.” Daniel usually had more enthusiasm when he explained the truth to non-believers, now as the words came out they kind of sounded like half-hearted excuses. Which they _weren’t_ , but Daniel didn’t exactly had the energy to spare right now, “the ascended emotions fuel them, giving them power to protect us.”

“Protect us from what?” David was looking at him, actually **looking** at him. Most people usually replied with the same question, but in a sarcastic way. As if they were only asking for an explanation so they could laugh about it later.

Not David, David was actually assessing what he heard- was trying to understand. It was such a stark contrast to how people usually looked at him he couldn’t help but avoid eye contact. Looking away towards the moth struggling to get back up on the ground.

“Protect us from the things beyond. Like Zeemug- but that was eons ago. Mostly these days it is just negative energies and things beyond mortal comprehension.”

“Does it have to be sacrifices? Or does everyone who dies go to fueling their cause?” David's question was backed by a genuine interest, which made Daniel pause in surprise.

“… both actually. Sacrifices count for a lot more, but we all become fuel for the universe when we die. If you don’t die as a sacrifice then the ancient ones have a harder time harnessing your soul because you are too out of sync with them- sacrifices are attuned with them.”

“So sacrificing someone is essentially like giving them refined fuel, while just dying is like giving them crude oil?” David was trying to understand. Squinting across the fluorescent parking lot. When was the last time someone had tried to understand? Years probably- not since high school at least. Daniel couldn’t help but let his hopes rise. Maybe… just maybe there was hope for the world after all.

“That is not how I would put it, but it is a good example.” Daniel tried to smile to show how much he appreciated David's interest, but it was hard to between his headache and all the negative energies still pulling at his skin and bringing him down. Instead all he managed was a sad but appreciative smile.

“You know most people don’t try understand it as much as you do.” Daniel admitted, nervously pulling at a hem of his white shirt, “Everyone these days is always so close minded. Once I start talking they just write me off as crazy or give me funny looks.”

David closed the door to the fuel tank gentle with a click, “I'm sorry to hear that Daniel. Not a lot of people are very open minded,” David's smile faltered and he gazed across the fuel station distantly, “though… I don’t think many people have as much experience with cult religions as I do.” He played with the yellow scarf around his neck nervously.

“My religion isn’t a cult David, it’s a way of life that asks you see beyond the realities of science and understand the true nature of the world around you.” Daniel raised his hands up towards the florescent lights above them, and then looked back at David with a smile. Wanting to see if he understood.

David wasn’t paying attention to him though, he was starring off into the distance still, a hand pressed to his neck like he was having a hard time swallowing, the yellow scarf around his neck ruffled with the disturbance.  There was something clearly on his mind, and judging by the tension in David's shoulders it was probably something negative.

David didn’t seem to let it get to him though, his face setting with determination after a second. He looked down before turning back to Daniel. The moment slipping away into the past.

“I'm sorry for calling it a cult then. Come on, let’s get the food and be on our way.”

David patted his arm as he walked passed him, heading towards the gas station.

They got back on the road soon enough, with a case of water bottles and a coffee for David. They managed to even find some unprocessed, genuine, food that Daniel could eat, though his still queasy stomach only had him eating half of the portion.

David drove and asked questions as to what kinds of food he could and could not eat, and other things about his religion. David happily answered his questions and filled him out on the basics of how science diluted the true nature of the world and emotional energy was really what people should be concerned with.

With food and several bottles of water in him he was feeling much better and alive. Even smiling again as he gave David the shortened version of the millennial wars.  

It was an amazing change of pace to go from having to side step any discussion of his religion with people to just being able to talk about it. David seemed genuinely open to discuss anything, and actually asked questions without trying to twist his religion around. To poke holes into the logic of his religion or drag it all down saying: _See? See? You really are crazy._

It let him vent off some of the negative energies, and though it was no cleansing ritual he felt so much better after an hour or so. David was like a walking ball of pure positivity- Daniel wondered how he managed to be so open minded and kind if he had never been taught about the truth of the world and emotional energies up until now.  It was this curiosity that moved the topic of discussion from Daniel’s beliefs to David’s own.

“So what about you?” Daniel asked probed, “What do you believe in, David?”

“Me?” David bit his lip and hesitated, as if thinking how he should answer. When he did it was in a way Daniel hadn’t expected.

“Religions are… I just… its very hard for me to believe in anything.” David seemed to want to play around his true thoughts but ended up forgoing niceties for brutal honesty. He punctuated his next words with a chopping motion on the steering wheel. The topic clearly being something he kept to himself and that needed venting.

“I feel that having one set of beliefs limits your world view. Everything either fits into your beliefs or it doesn’t- and I just…” David offered his hands in a shrug, “I can’t do that. I can’t pretend that one set of beliefs is better than another, or that following a certain set of commandments will save my soul in particular. I've met tons of people from all kinds of beliefs and you know what I say? It doesn’t matter what they believe in. They’re either jerks or they aren’t.”

“And I meet a _lot_ of people with different religions,” David stressed, now rambling now that the damn had been released, “we rent the camp out in the fall to all kinds of groups and when you sit here telling me that when we all die our souls are harvested by ancient aliens- its not the strangest thing I have heard.”

“Most people think it is though,” Daniel admitted. Not to say his beliefs were _weird,_ it was just a fact that not a lot of people could see that.

“Says Christians, I assume. The people worship a guy that was declared dead, wasn’t in fact dead but died three days later.” David offered, looking at Daniel as if for confirmation on how weird that sounded- and Daniel agreed on some level. It had taken a few years and making a lot of people angry for him to realize that such a religion was actually widely practiced.

“-and that’s kind of my point. There is more to that story those sets of beliefs, emotional weight that drives people and moves them and for me… for me it just doesn’t click.” David slouched in the driver’s seat and rubbed his temples with his right hand, “I don’t know. I’ve been to church services and tons of other things and the whole concept of just believing in a certain set of things- and then typically not following them- just feels silly to me.”

“Maybe you just haven’t found a religion that speaks to you yet.” Daniel offered, “And when you do it will just feel right.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ll just stay an atheist.” David shrugged off handedly. He fell quiet for a minute, but clearly still had more to say on the subject.

He broke as he turned on his turn signal and passed up a driver in front of them.

“It’s just incredibly stupid to base people on their religion.” David remarked without prompting, Daniel's question clearly having accidentally started an avalanche.

“It’s just- it makes no sense to me how anyone could completely dismiss another person purely because they have a different set of beliefs. I have met Satanists and people who practice Hedonism who are _way_ more kind and caring and open minded then some people with more ‘acceptable' beliefs. There are good people in ‘bad' religions and bad people in ‘good' religions. I don’t need to know the ins and outs of what they believe to tell or see if someone is a decent person, Daniel.” David said doing air quotes with his right hand while steering with the left.  

“Like you, you aren’t a bad person inherently- your beliefs just so happen to make it seem like you are. To _you_ poisoning an entire camp of children isn’t sinful or bad- but to the rest of the world it is and…” Daniel twisted his hands on his steering wheel, the leather creaking, “I’m not saying that I personally believe its _okay_ to do something like that- but who am I to say what is wrong or right when the entire world is this grey fuzzy cloud with some patches being darker or lighter than others? You know what I mean? Clearly you aren’t some murder crazy idiot that needs to be locked away in a jail cell. You’re just doing what you do. Do you know how hard it is to find someone who is genuinely enthusiastic and positive? It just seemed like a waste to leave you in jail because you believe in a stupid religion that’s no stupider than other religions.” David did a double take on his words, glancing over to Daniel and back tracking.

“Not that your religion is stupid, Daniel it’s just… well, all religions are to me. I could write a book about it. I would, but that would make people angry with me and I don’t want to have to deal with that kind of drama. …I'm sorry for saying it like that.”

Daniel didn’t feel particularly angry at the comment- it was much milder mannered compared to what he usually got. He was a big enough person to let such things go. It was more amusing than anything, seeing David go off on a rant like this. He must have a pretty good check on his temper because he hadn’t seen any sign of it back at the camp. It kind of wanted to make Daniel push the guy, to see just how angry he could get.

“Is that why you're driving me out of town?” Daniel asked, indicating to the dark highway before them, “saving me so to speak? Because you think I could _reform_. That if I could only see things differently I could be better?”

“No.” David didn’t hesitate to answer, “I’m not religious enough or have good enough morals to even start preaching to you about what's wrong or right Daniel.” David rolled his eyes.

“I pulled you out of jail and am getting you to a place the police won’t be looking for you because you will **owe** me big time for it- and I expect you to pay me back in kind.  It’s a really selfish thing to do- but that’s why I did it. Not to reform you or make you see the light- Daniel I _don’t care_ about your personal beliefs.” David stressed, expression deadly serious “you could believe that when snow melts it turns into fairies and eating yellow snow will give you immortality, and I wouldn’t care so long as you could work for me.”

“I had an opportunity to make you owe me one- and I’m taking it.” David spoke with all the confidence of a capitalistic business man who knew exactly what he needed and was willing to do what needed to be done.

The image was shattered in the next second when his uncertainty morphed into a puppy-like uncertainty. “-I mean, if it’s okay with you. I don’t want you to force you into slave labor or something. You'll get paid for your work, though not anything more than what we talked about this morning… Is that okay?”

This morning’s interview felt like it had been years ago. Daniel's body decided to remind him then just how achy and terrible this day had been.

“You would actually bring me back on? After everything that’s happened?” David asked skeptically, “knowing that I actively sacrifice people as a religious practice?”

“You didn’t met the Quarter Master,” David spoke bluntly, he gave him a look out of the corner of his eye that demanded all skepticism be dismissed, “if I can manage him around the kids, I can manage you.”

David looked back to the road, “Of course I'm not going to bring you back for summer camp. I want you to come work for me in the off-season. Managing the groups who rent the camp out and the hunters when they come in for deer season- usually I do it all by myself but the Camp _needs_ some renovations.” David stressed, “Something I need time to do and won’t be able to fit into my schedule if I have to manage the groups and do all the work. Our budget is pretty tight.”

“So you saw an opportunity to get some cheap labor and took it.” David realized, “but why risk it? Surely you could find someone else to fill the position…”

David grimaced in doubt, “Not everyone in town is so willing to work for Mr. Campbell. Honestly I was surprised that someone responded so quickly to Gwen’s advertisement.”

Daniel thought back to that morning- what felt like a life time ago- when he had seen the advertisement while stopping in the town dinner for breakfast. He had come to the area knowing its lake had many camps around it. He was going to try his luck at them and if none of them were hiring, move onto the next town like always. Seeing that advertisement had felt a bit like fate. Sitting here in the passenger seat as David drove away into the night… he figured perhaps it was.

“They called me that when they threw me out of the police station.” Daniel recalled quietly, running his thumb over the palm of his other hand “… a Campbell?”

“That’s… just what they call us.” David’s expression became tense, “Cameron Campbell owns our camp, and half of the properties around Lake Lilac.” David shifted so that he could rest his left arm on the window sill beside him, steering with one arm.  “His company basically owns Sleepy Peak… and there are other things but the less you know the better. Trust me.”

David sighed, “Honestly, I am glad the camp is an aside of an aside to the rest of the company. Mr. Campbell’s an amazing person but he… has some… well let’s just say there were some misunderstandings with his business methods. ”

Daniel raised an eyebrow at this. The name Cameron Campbell sounded familiar, and it just wasn’t because David kept repeating the name. Daniel frowned, digging trough his memories and a news segment from a few months back came to mind, “Wait… is he… the guy that recently became the Prime Minister of Thailand?”

The leather of the steering wheel creaked as David's grip tightened. “Yes. I don’t know any details though.”

“That only makes it sound like there are details…”

“Of which I have none.” David said pointedly.

Daniel frowned, looking out the window, “this all seems pretty fishy.”

“Welcome to the Campbell family.” David muttered somewhat under his breath, and then changed the subject, flicking on his turn signal and slowing down the car to exit the highway.

“We're almost there.”

“Where is there?” Daniel asked, trying to catch the exit sign but not in time. He hadn’t paid a whole lot of attention to where they were going- North towards Denton, but they were still pretty far south of the Capital.

“Your job in between jobs,” David replied simply, “somewhere you can lay low and avoid the police. Hopefully to the point that by August they won’t be looking for you.”

They stopped at a light and Daniel caught sight of a build board advertising some kind of fair- the people on it were dressed in ridiculous opera costumes based somewhere in the old times. It was a ‘renaissance' fair- and David recalled something in the false histories about that being a designated time period.

The light turned and they started drifting through the town, eventually turning at another billboard advertising the fair.

“Are we almost there?”

“Just about.” David hummed, “how are you feeling?”

“I really need a cleansing- and a shower, and maybe some more sleep.” Daniel cracked his neck and that helped, but not a lot. They passed by another one of those signs, this one marking the main entrance, which was closed of course since it was the middle of the night. The next entrance, one to the camp grounds was open though, and David turned on his blinker before turning in.

A tired woman a few years older than him was sitting in the guard’s house, texting on her phone.

“Camping pass?”

“Service, actually.” David fished a plastic ID out from his wallet and handed it over. The disinterested lady swiped it in the machine and the gate opened.

She handed the card back to David and did a triple take when she actually bothered to look in the car.

“Holy- Little Red? Hey man! It's been forever!”

“Wow you never change Becca. Every time I stop by you’re always so surprise people use the gates” David grinned, “I didn’t know you were still working the graveyard shift.”

“Yeah, well I get all the night shifts so I get to take care of the kids during the day.” The older woman crossed her arms and leaned forward a bit out if the gate house. “How about you, still working at that shitty summer camp?”

“Yeah, but please don’t say it like that.” David chuckled.

“I’ll say whatever I damn well please.” The older teased, “But seriously how have you been- and who is that?”

Becca crouched to look across the car at Daniel, who tensed on instinct. He didn’t know if the newspapers in this area had posted his wanted pictures after all.

“Oh hell. Talk about evil twins- where in the world did you manage to find a twink whiter than yourself?”

“It’s a long story.” David actually laughed, “He's going to be helping my dad out around the shop.”

“Well let’s hope he's not as much of a trouble maker as the last one.”  Becca huffed, “guy nearly made off with half of his earnings. Thankfully mike clothes lined him.”

A car pulled up to the gate behind them and Becca stood back up, “well, I'll see you soon I guess. Tell Big Red I say hey- your mother too.”

“Will do,” David promised, and drove through the gate, which Becca raised for them again since it had timed out while they were talking. David drove them into what appeared to be a parking lot and camping area. People milled about tents in artificial light or small fires in pits.

Daniel heard singing off in the distance and turned to see a giant plum of smoke and hellish light in the distance.

“On Saturdays there is a bonfire with a concert.” David explained, “It’s a lot of fun- but not if you like being around a lot of drunk people.”

“Drinking corrupts your body and makes it more susceptible to negative energies,” Daniel informed him helpfully, but craned his neck to watch as the car idled past the trees. Through tall pines he could make out crowds of people and a tall, hellish fire.

“Is this some kind of pagan worship sight?” Daniel asked in confusion.

David found a parking spot, and the emergency break creaked as he engaged it, “No, but yes. Some people believe it but others don’t. It’s complicated.”

“Don’t _all_ religions work that way?” Daniel raised an eyebrow jokingly.

David released a short burst of dry laughter, “Well, you’re not _wrong_.”

“In all seriousness though, have you ever been to a Ren festival before, or heard of one?”

“Heard of? Vaguely. Been to? No.” Daniel admitted, glancing out of the car into the dark night. “My understanding is that it is a giant fake bazaar which sells things more inclined to the occult and also reflects a time period wholly inaccurately while offering carnival games and rides.”

“Once again, you’re not wrong.” David nodded, completely serious, “The entire set up is a fair, a festival, and it is all in good fun. None of it is supposed to be real, but the workers still put a lot of effort into making it feel real. Once again, all in good fun. For the customers. Some people put a lot of effort into things, others don’t- but they don’t last long, unless the products they have are really good.”

“And your parents work here, I think it would be safe to assume by what that woman was saying?” Daniel asked.

David nodded, “My dad does wood carvings, and my mother runs a shop selling plants and doing fortune readings. I kind of grew up doing this kind of stuff- which is mostly why I am so open minded. This kind of setting attracts a lot of eccentric people- when every other person has a different belief you just kind of learn to respect everyone individually and not worry or ask about the details.” David made a vague motion with his hands.

“Anyway as you already heard- the last guy working for my dad got fired because he tried to steal some money. He's down a worker and willing to give you a chance. I think it would be a good place for you to lie low. If the authorities come looking for you; you can just say you’re me with dyed hair. Or we could just as easily say you’re a relative.”

David offered the grounds before them to Daniel, “You can work here with my dad for the rest of the summer- and then come to work with me for the fall and winter. Or I could drop you off at the nearest bus station and we can never see each other again. You could be over state lines, or back in the mountains by tomorrow. It’s your choice.”

Daniel looked from David's genuine offer, then out to the dark world outside of the car. Behind them in the distance a hundred voices rose up singing to some unintelligible verse.

“You're not worried I'm going to poison your parents and kill them in their sleep?” Daniel asked genuinely. Lots of people had said that about him before, it kind of felt weird to have someone not being so conscious about his ‘unsavory’ practices.

“My dad's got a pretty colorful past- you wouldn’t be the first to try.” David shrugged, “Though while you are working with us, we are going to ask you to not kill anyone or sacrifice them. The whole point is to have you lay low and not end up back in jail after all.”

Daniel recalled the spiral of negative energy this whole night’s adventure had started out in and shuddered. The negative energies were still prickling at his skin, and he recalled the closed off people in the station. Unwilling to have their minds open to new ways of thinking and writing him off as crazy the second he would open his moth.

David had pulled him from that bleak hell and was offering him a chance somewhere new. Somewhere there just might be people even half open to the idea that he didn’t need to be institutionalized, and maybe even some that might see his truth of the world.

Maybe seeing that advertisement in the paper had really been some kind of fate. Though just not the one he thought his Ancients had for him.

“I think that’s a fair price to pay,” he told David admittedly, “it would be a pretty negative thing of me to. Accept this much help and only return it by stabbing you in the back. … It would also be a shame not to come all this way and not give it a shot.”

He gave David a small smile, and the red head returned it ten fold, practically bounding out of the car.

“Wonderful! Come on, you're going to love working here. It's no camping trip, but chain saw carving is really exiting! And mom's absolutely going to love you! She absolutely loves learning about new religions and different world views! I ought to warn you though, my dad can be a little intimidating, but once he warms up to you, you he's a kind heart.”

David was practically pulling him out of the car and across the closed fair grounds like a puppy, as he ranted about all the different kinds of shops the fair had and who ran them. Daniel caught on pretty quickly that the entire fair staff was a pretty close-knit family.

Also that David's definition of ‘a little intimidating' came in the form of his towering, broad shoulder seven foot father who had a permanent set scowl and the reddest beard and hair possible without hair dye. The man had been chipping away at a wooden sculpture when they two of them ducked into the back work area of the store. Dark eyes scrutinizing his soul and his stoic expression not changing even a little as David introduced Daniel.

The tense and uncomfortable cloud had hung in the air until David’s mother walked in with some tea, and an optimistic smile. David didn’t take after his mother more, so much as was a perfect blended result between the couple. David clearly got his height from his father, but his smaller frame size from his mother. David had her eyes as well, but not her black hair. He inherited his father’ prominent color, though it appeared to be a bit more muted in him. The back and forth continued for David’s entirety, from his expression to the way he held himself and his personality.

David’s mother, Mrs. Green, welcomed him with a smile and a glass of tea. Offering to let him sit and talk about his day, listening with attention just like David had been doing the last few hours. Meanwhile Mr. Green continued to sit and chip away at the wooden block in front of him. Quiet and silently simmering anger. Just like what David had been when he had picked him up from the police station. If their son was truly equally divided in traits. Daniel would pity anyone who pushed David to anger- for that ment David had to have inherited just as much sheer determination and temper from his father as he had endless kindness from his mother.

He didn’t remember much of what had been said that night. After hearing David’s side of the story and answering a few questions he had been shuffled into a warm shower by Mrs. Green and David’s old bed had been made for him to sleep in. David had to head out to get back to the camp before sunrise, leaving Daniel alone with his family to start work the next morning.

It had been hard to adapt at first. Daniel felt as if he were a fish that had been caught, released and then caught again before being tossed into a different lake entirely. The festival was fast passed and demanding, the total opposite of the wilderness and hiking from camp to camp and avoiding towns and cities to not get caught by the police. He was used to be on the run and constantly having to look over his shoulder. This consistent staying in one place and being safe had him on edge.

Not to say that working in Mr. Greens shop wasn’t bad. The register wasn’t hard to work, and restocking was as easy as pulling things from the back work room and putting them on their shelves at certain times. A good majority of what they sold were simple sculptures. Fish, bears, and other things people might give as gifts or put up in their homes. Their next popular items were pieces modeled off of game characters or game items. They sold Ocarinas and flutes and the occasional intricately carved game character that was unique because Mr. Green would spend at least a day carving them from references and then painting them. Those sold for a _lot_ , but Daniel hated selling them because every time he checked someone out for it he had to fake a smile and listen to the customer rant on about how awesome the figure was and why and what do you mean Daniel didn’t play video games? This game was the best series out there- it was annoying to say the least.

Not as annoying as everyone mistaking him for David, however. Everyone in the fair called his father ‘Big Red,’ and in turn David's nick name was ‘Little Red.' The first week Daniel was working there, so many of the other staff had been calling him that he had found himself explaining that he was not David at least seven times each day. Initially it was funny, but eventually just became tedious. David's father seemed to notice his plight and find it humorous. After the first week he had carved him a new name tag, one that read, ‘not little red’ instead of his actual name.

For all he was complaining though, once he got used to the idea of not having to look over his shoulder for the police, and dealing with some of the more annoying customers. It wasn’t so bad working here. Genuinely enjoyable, actually. Learning to speak with the same Scottish accent Red used was fun, and the customers genuinely enjoyed the artistry that went into the wood carvings, from the simple to the highly detailed. People stopped to take pictures in the giant wooden throne out front, or came inside to take pictures with the equally giant wooden bear.

Red taught Daniel the script for his chain saw show, and they started doing wood carving shows in the work shop at certain times throughout the day. Daniel explaining the process of the carving and making the audience laugh with jokes while Big Red whittled away at a wooden log with practiced ease. It was a nice feeling, being the center of attention but not having people look at you like you were crazy. Daniel didn’t mind it so much, and actually had fun with it.

After hours everyone would sit down with other people in the stalls around them. Mrs. Green and some others would make tea or bring wine. Daniel would play his violin, and Red would play a wooden flute. They would all chat and laugh and talk about things. David's mother was just as open minded about learning new religions as her son was, though unlike her son had her own set of beliefs she wouldn't budge on. They talked philosophy and the mysteries of life with the others around campfires. Daniel met kindred souls who were far away from anyone who shared their beliefs like him, and even people who were interested in learning more about the truths of the world he knew.

On advisement by David's family and pure common sense, he never discussed making sacrifices to the Ancient ones with others. However the thought of doing any were far from his mind as he walked kids through playing with the giant carved checkers game they kept outside Mrs. Green’s fortune telling shop, or sold them wooden swords and other toys. Instead he focused on spreading the positive energy of how happy he was to all of the customers, brightening their day with smiles and advising them on which foods the fair offered were better for them.

Nothing was perfect, but after a month Daniel was as close to content as he had been in years. It was as the summer began to wind down for a close and the Fair here in Colorado was closing down for the season; that Daniel realized that he had really come to love working at the wood shop. It was a bitter sweet feeling, but one that made him anticipate the coming cold months. As much as he loved the Fair, he wouldn’t mind seeing a bit more of some actual nature. He couldn’t wait to get back to the camp and breathe some fresh mountain air.

The road the Ancients had given him to this life certainly were strange, but Daniel was happy to be where he was now. He thought fleetingly for a while of making a sacrifice to thank them, but after some consideration decided that it wouldn’t be the right thing to do. It would be going against the promise he made David and David's family, after all. A family that was fast becoming his own. If his new ‘Little Yellow’ name tag was anything to go by.

 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So this is the prequel in a series I'm doing. This redeemed Daniel- and David's family- will be showing up in a fic I am currently working on which is an adoption AU. This is kind of a test but I plan to have other side stories eventually added on. I also need to figure out how collections work or series work on this sight. Just give me some time, yeah? I'll get it all sorted eventually.


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